Eyes Locked on Back-to-Back State Championships

There are going to be a lot of eyes on Glasgow this year, the attention focused on the defending state wrestling champions. Coaches and wrestlers alike will be looking to unseat the Scotties from their 13th state title holder position. The attention doesn't seem to faze head wrestling coach, Jory Casterline.

"Pressure, no. Target on our backs - yes," he said when asked if he felt any pressure as the state championship team. "We won't put undue pressure on the kids." Casterline stressed that his team takes to the practice mats each day "with a purpose - work to get better."

In a year where change and adaptation have become the norm, the Scotties will be grappling with changes as well as opponents. One of the changes the athletes will need to adapt to will be the switch from tournaments and meets to duals and triangulars. Casterline says the team is looking to the strength of the schedule to prepare his boys for another successful season. He credits athletic director Brenner Flaten for getting the team the matches they need this year to build to a run at another state championship.

The changes in scheduling will have Glasgow facing teams they normally would not during the regular season. The Scottie grapplers will see Huntley Project, Cut Bank, Eureka, Columbus and Whitehall this season, who Casterline says will all be strong teams. A silver lining of the schedule change imposed by the coronavirus pandemic is that the Scottie team will see several more competitions at home this year. Glasgow will host eight times this year, a drastic uptick from previous years. "I don't even know if Whitehall has even been to Glasgow," Casterline said about the differences in this year's schedule.

The strength of the Scotties' schedule will be amplified by the team's roster. The team returns three individual state champions. Colten Fast took first in the 132-pound class in Billings last year, while Dylan Nieskens, 182-pound, and Cooper Larson, 205-pound, added their own trophies. Mayson Phipps placed second in the 285-pound class. Jake Kuka, Kaden Zimmerman and Kyler Hallock brought home fifth-place finishes.

But the state placers from last year aren't the only wrestlers Casterline is excited about. The head coach is pleased that the Nesbit twins, Damian and Devon, have returned to Glasgow after a hiatus in Baker and that Dawson Boland has come back to the program after playing basketball last year. Casterline also welcomes a first this year - the addition of girls wrestling. Shalynn Pedersen will break ground as the first in the program available for the first time this year. Of wrestlers like Mason Donaldson, Casterline is